Tempest
by kasieli
Summary: The Teen Titan's mission: steal a relic from a lethal enemy and destroy it. ASAP. But the lack of means of destroying the relic leaves them in a vulnerable position - possessing a deadly weapon, with an equally deadly group chasing after it. And if Raven knew anything about these assassins, it's that they wouldn't go down fighting without conjuring a storm.


A/N: HERE IT IS! If I were to call any story my baby, this would be it. For those of you that follow my tumblr, remember when I said I was doing a comic? Well, it kind of just...turnedintothis. (Believe me, a one man show doing all the writing, penciling, inking, and coloring, is no simple task. It's hard as _fuck_.) No worries, I will provide many supplementary visual materials, and I am planning on turning some into small strips (aka the parts I want to draw out, I might). I didn't design uniforms for my babes for _nothing_ , man. There are more Author's Notes at the bottom to justify some of my choices in this fic, just because it is an AU fic, and it did give me some liberty to be free with all of DC's universes and kind of create things and mesh 'em to kind of create my own. Rating is mainly due to language, but I can be a lot bore...liberal in some areas because of this, so be warned!

Disclaimer: Don't own these characters or make money off of this alright guys

Anyways, here it is! I present to you... _Tempest_

* * *

 ** _-Nanda Parbat_ (1) _, League of Assassins Stronghold. March 17, 2019_ (2) _. 2:03 a.m.-_**

"I SAID GO!" Her voice strained against the already raw vocal chords stinging her throat. She used her powers to deflect the blows swarming from all directions, but her and Beast Boy were severely outnumbered, and the hunt was just beginning. If there was one thing she knew about this deadly agglomeration of maniacs called the League of Assassins (like she could talk, see definition: superhero), it was that they wouldn't die without putting up a fight. A damn good fight, at that. Especially now, since their most sacred, powerful amulet, was currently hidden in the comfort of her cloak.

It hadn't even been a full three seconds since her and Beast Boy merely touched the darned thing that the League came storming in, with their enormous quantities, and started chucking all of their ammo in sight at them.

Raven carefully tossed it to him, piercing him with her wary but resolute eyes.

"Take the goddamn jewel and _go_!"

"But Raven you –," Beast Boy protested, cowering under her shield as more shurikens collided with it.

"I'll make it out, but that thing has to go. _Now_. Take the boom tube. I can transport myself," she was basically growling. Beast Boy was a hard-headed son of a gun sometimes, especially now, when he failed to realize that getting that jewel to safety and out of the League's hands were more important than their safety combined. First priority: that thing needed to get out of Nanda Parbat. Stat.

And the ugly truth was, she felt her power waning. There was only so much energy she could exert on creating a barrier. It was going to break any moment now, and by the looks of it, the League was going to devour them alive once it did so. This became more than just a game on who got the shiny pretty jewel in their hands. This was a game of _death_. If Beast Boy successfully left with it, at least they would have partially succeeded in this task the Justice League so happily stacked on them. And if that relic made it back to the Tower safe, it would put an incredible ease to a currently unusable part of her brain that was too preoccupied on whether or not they or the League would take home the grand big prize. The anxiety, she hated to admit, was eating her alive.

If she was able to get Beast Boy out of here, her mind would be clear and she could just focus on surviving the rest. Besides, she may have been exhausted, but she knew she performed best when her limits were being tested. And her limits were _surely_ being tested.

"But I can't –"

"For _Azar's sake_ stop your baby babbling and _GO_!"

At this point, she had no choice but to produce the boom tube (3) herself, tossing it up and ripping open a portal from midair."We can both make it," he urged, glancing from her to the portal back to her.

She scoffed, flinching as a particularly massive blow quaked her shield, "You know it will stay open long enough that we won't be coming back to the tower _alone_. Go!"

"We can time it –"

"We always _miss_ it when we time it. GO!"

He was about to open his mouth to protest again, but Raven kicked her foot back, purposefully knocking Beast Boy in the back of his knee, causing it to buckle, and Beast Boy's fortunately unlucky terrible reaction time suddenly became lucky. He toppled right into the portal and out of sight. He and Jaime always said, _Hasta luego, amiga_ , when they were forced to leave her to fend for herself, almost like a spell that always, always worked its magic. And maybe it was her imagination, but in the depths of his surprised yelp, she thought perhaps she had heard it, like a whisper in smoke.

Yeah, let's hope it would work _this_ time.

She exhaled steadily and slowly, knowing the portal was still seconds from closing, and concentrated the last bit of energy left in her system to keep the shield up long enough for it to disappear. Long enough to keep her team and the amulet safe from the League's wrath. But just because it was safe with Beast Boy, didn't mean the assassins were done playing. She didn't as much sense it with her powers, as much as she simply _saw_ it – the smirk in their eyes, the hunger in their stares. Even though the Titans had technically won this round, they weren't going to let her leave this place without something to physically remind her of the day the mere children of the Teen Titans broke into the League's stronghold and stole their enormously important amulet. In the _same freaking day_.

That is, if she made it out _alive_.

She gulped, knowing what she had just gotten herself into, staring right back at those hungry eyes, wondering about the battle ahead of her, about the sheer quantity of them, before the whipping sound of the portal drowned her thoughts and imploded on itself, leaving Raven completely and utterly…

"Alone."

The power faded from her fingertips, making them feel bare, making her feel naked. She shuddered as she heard the fizzling of her powers, watching in apprehension as second by second the holes in her shield expanded, and how the smirks in the assassin's eyes grew fiercer. They had halted, knowing it was useless to try and attack her while the barrier was up. Burned out useless energy. But they saw the holes in her barrier. Even a blind person would know Raven's shields were depleting around her like a paper in a flame. For the last fraction of a second, she closed her eyes.

Breathe in…

...Breath out.

" _Azarath Metrion Zinthos_."

As her eyes snapped open, they were already next to her. She cursed as one of them crashed a fist into her jaw, sending her flying back. They were _assassins_ , of course they were fast. Spitting the blood out of her mouth, she recovered. She centered her powers in her hands, feeling the exhilarating rush as it surged through her chest, filling it with a familiar, electric power, and picking up a stocky bed from the corner, knocked over some assassins like an easy game of dominoes. She successfully cleared a good majority of assailants from her view.

But they wouldn't stop coming.

It was a good thing Kori insisted on the Titans learning hand-to-hand in their training sessions. 'In case you were to ever get cornered and didn't have enough space or time to access your powers', how wonderfully did she predict this exact predicament, and how wonderfully did said training actually come in handy.

But even then, she could only dodge five out of the six hits, and she was practically _only_ dodging.

Five dodges, one blow, an excruciating hit to her back.

She slammed into the ground.

They snickered.

It wasn't difficult to see she was losing. Badly.

Growling, she lunged to prep a martial arts moves she picked up from watching Nightwing in training sessions. The move that allowed her to clear the path around her, with the calculation that gave her exactly .7 of a second before they were back on their feet again. She spun and kicked down the assassins around her, and with the .7 seconds she was spared, dashed to a window.

She crashed into it with as much force as she could muster, but thankfully it broke, sending her out into the cool night. But she was too winded to summon her powers, and the pain of ramming into the window blinded the rest of her senses. Her body instinctively rolled into a tight ball, and her legs pulled into her chest. She was caught by an elastic material before it gave way underneath her, and not before long, she was tasting blood, sweat, and dirt on the cold, stone floor.

"Shit," she mumbled, spitting hair and blood out of her mouth. She tried to pry herself off the ground, but her arms just couldn't steady themselves enough to handle the dead weight of her body. She groaned again, lifting her chin so that she could view her surroundings. She was, for the most part, alone – a few merchants were out and about doing business, but for the most part, the city was eerily dead. A calm, pleasant night in picture, but so far it was proving to be anything but.

She was safe for now, but the League was bound to find her at any second. If she didn't escape to a more hidden area other than under this canopy with a gaping hole due to her crash, she was sure once they'd find her, they'd end her this time.

In her frantic search for finding a safe place to hide and recover, she saw something heading her way. What was it, smoke? But smoke didn't move like that. It certainly looked real. But the daze of the fall could have been disillusioning her. It was fast, swift, and graceful, like the winds of a tornado. Deadly, frightening, blistering, but controlled and beautiful in its own way. As it got closer, she realized it was a man – tall, muscular, lean, _powerful_ , she could tell even in that sort of baggy attire he had on. He was rushing towards her with a smirk on his face. And he wasn't there to save her, that was certain, as well. But the mask, his mask, it was a stark, terrifying white, and even from far away she knew the eyes were red and appeared as if he had tears of _blood_.

Even a thousand members from the League stationed in front of her couldn't conjure the fear that was bubbling inside of her right now.

It was just then that her arms responded to her brain, pushing her upright. She had to get herself out of there. By the looks of it, it was now or never. A portal had to be made now, while he was still preoccupied by running to her. She knew she had no chance in fighting him. His smirk alone was death. Azar knew what his fighting would behold.

Her feet dug into the ground. She clenched her fists. She was going to make this portal if it was the last thing she –

White and gold and red reached her and before she could even lift a finger, she was met with a sickening blow to her stomach, sending her blasting into the wall behind her and crashing into it with an ear splitting _wham_.

She coughed and felt warm liquid seeping from her mouth. Grunting, she wiped the blood from her mouth, still in a daze by the blow of the impact. She knew she needed to escape, but he was so goddamn quick. How could someone be so goddamn quick?

He was already beside her.

He cupped her face with a strong hand with a force strong enough to crush her bones. He was still smirking, and it did nothing to soothe the terror aflame within her. Her mind still fuzzy, she could only stare back into the horror of his glassy eyes and bloody tears. They were painted with _real_ blood. Only blood dried that way. She should know.

"What is it? Not going to fight anymore, little bird?" he asked, the smirk apparent in his voice. For such a brutal man, he had this musical voice, it sounded almost like a sonata.

She spit her blood into his face.

"You're not getting that amulet back, psycho," she hissed, trying to pry his hands off her.

But it only caused his grip to tighten, and his pink tongue licked the spot where the blood landed on his lips.

"Oh, do not be mistaken, I'm not doing this for the amulet."

She gasped. In every articulation, every syllable, she felt the indignation seep into his words, intensifying his melodic accent (4). He was going to kill her. He was going to strike, he was drawing a weapon. But he underestimated her, and she was able to break from his commanding grasp and launch into the place she knew best – the air. Free.

It wasn't even a full three seconds after she leaped.

Something hit her. _Hard_.

Something had wedged itself into her back with so much force, it drove her back down into a rooftop.

" _Shit_."

She traced her back with a shaky hand, only to find an arrow plunged into back. He had the absolute upper hand over her, she couldn't even attack, she didn't have enough power to attack. Not to mention with her already added injuries, the percentage of her gaining enough energy to conjure a portal was dwindling down to the single digits.

She heard a soft thud, finding him gracefully land onto the roof, slowly sauntering to her with the same smirk and an arrow rolling between his fingers. The confidence and cockiness was basically dripping off of him. Everything about him was so eccentric, it was frightening.

"Come on, little bird, at least give me a _little_ fight before I kill you."

Her feet planted into battle stance, as she prepared to deflect another blow.

"Who are you?" she demanded in gasps.

"Rule number one," he moved like lightning, and she was staring at the blood on his mask and his hand curled in a fist, "assassins never tell you their name!" The fist crashed into her, and she hit yet another wall, coughed up more blood, and she didn't know if she could feel anything _other than_ the cut on her lip and the bruises on her chin and body and the arrow digging into her back anymore.

Her chances of creating a portal now was even lower than the time the move she did earlier stunned those assassins – .7 percent was looking _lucky_ now. Shrouds of black obscured her vision, and her hearing grew garbled, like the world were turning into static. But there he was, still twirling the arrow, still offering her the same stupid smirk. He grabbed her by her cloak, hoisted her up, and pressed the arrow to her heart.

"Too bad, I thought you were going to be more entertaining to play with, _little bird_."

She didn't even have enough energy to keep her eyes on him. Her head kept dropping, rolling as if it were made of metal. Her eyes felt like someone had been pressing down on her eyelids. She was losing consciousness, and she didn't think she could stop it.

She felt the arrow draw blood from her chest, felt it trickle down her body in streams, and yet the only thing she could think about was how warm it was and how good it felt against the rest of her cold body.

His lips were next to her ears, "See you in _hell_ , Raven."

Raven? He knew her name? She didn't know his...and his voice...it sounded almost...sad...sad...And the way he rolled his r's when he spoke, especially when pronouncing her name, it was oddly beautiful...She chuckled, or at least she thought she did. Maybe this was what ran through people's minds before they died at the hands of someone else. How beautiful their name sounded rolling of their murderer's tongue. How stupid...

"RAVEN!"

She couldn't even react upon hearing a familiar mellow female voice before her vision gave in, her limbs became limp, and she succumbed into the darkness.

 ** _-Titans Tower, New York City, New York (5). March 17, 2019. 3:23 a.m.-_**

The world was still spinning.

" _Raven._ "

That _voice_ …like a song...a melody...

"Raven."

She still tasted blood. Her body still ached.

"Raven."

Was she dead? Was she in heaven? Was she in hell? Did that man...that man…

"You're telling me that I should be _perfectly okay_ that they just sent her out on a _suicide mission?!_ "

But there was soft fabric creasing under her fingertips, and something warm enveloping her. Was this what heaven felt like?

"Calm down, it's okay. She's _safe_ now."

A female voice, the same soothing one she heard before, boomed around her, surrounding her. Safe…

"Safe? _Safe?!_ You call the state she's in as safe? She almost _died_ , Kori!"

Her eyes tore open. Fiery red drowned her vision. The world was still spinning, spinning. She gasped.

" _Raven!_ "

Before anything else, she was being embraced and she knew, knew that, for now, she was, in fact, finally, _safe_.

"Kori," she whispered, her voice hoarse.

"Tell them, Raven, tell them!" Beast Boy's voice came in loud, furious bursts. "We were outnumbered. There was no way in _hell_ we could have stopped them!"

He stormed towards her.

"We're apparently not done with this mission yet." His usually uncoordinated limbs were flying around in a more haphazard fashion. "I'm trying to get them to realize that this is waaaaaaaaay out of bounds for us. It's the _LEAGUE OF ASSASSINS_ for fuck's sake! I say let the goddamn Justice League handle it from here, but they're not. _Listening. To. Me_." He shot heated glances to Kori and Dick, but they didn't even flinch.

But Raven knew why they didn't flinch. She knew from the very beginning why they sent her on this mission, and not more capable heroes like Superman or Wonder Woman. She knew everyone in the Justice League possessed the knowledge as to why, only her, born in Azarath and had the blood of a demon flowing within her, could handle such a task. She knew everyone but her teammates knew. The younger ones, anyways. But Beast Boy was so torn, and Jaime was so silent, it wasn't like she could keep it from them.

She looked up at him.

"It's still in the pouch I gave it you in?" she asked on a sigh. "You didn't touch it, right?"

He shook his head, crossing his arms.

"Good. Because I'm the only one on _our side_ that can touch it without bursting into a pretty flame. And I'm the only one that can use it, Beast Boy, which means I'm the only one that can _destroy it._ "

He didn't seem satisfied.

"And believe me, we _need_ to destroy it. That thing isn't just a weapon."

She shuddered.

"It's an _omen_."

 ** _-Nanda Parbat, League of Assassins Stronghold. March 17, 2019. 3:25 a.m.-_**

He was soaking in all the wreckage caused by that puny witch girl, chuckling at the sight. For such a weak, little bird, she sure did tear the place apart.

He smiled at the thought of her, how she wiggled under his grasp, the snarl in her eyes, the way he could see the life drain out of them, morphing the vibrant violet into a murky black. Luckily for him, she survived. Which meant he would probably bump shoulders with little miss Raven again sometime soon.

When he reached a part of the building that hadn't looked like any bird came rampaging through the League's stronghold that night, he stopped at a heavily ornamented wall and knocked.

The voice came through stark and abrasive even through the thick door. "Come in."

The door didn't even stop creaking before her shrill voice drowned it.

"You let them _steal_ it?" she snarled. Her voice was not unlike a lion's roar when she grew angry. It was one of the reason's why he respected her, though. Woman wasn't afraid to shit talk anyone, even him. "How could your pathetic squad allow two teenage – _teenage!,_ fucking _children!_ – superheroes to get passed the most heavily guarded sect of the building?" She whirled on him now, and her familiar eyes were ablaze with fury. " _How?_!?"

But he just shrugged nonchalantly, turning his eyes on her.

"They can't use it, you know that. Not without this." His fingers toyed with the piece of gold hanging around his neck, feeling the intricate etchings on it he memorized as if it were speaking to him in braile.

"But now we can't either!"

She slammed into the chair beside her and drew circles on her temples, but her fingers were moving so forcibly, and he didn't think it was for soothing purposes at this point.

"And I thought I told you to take off that stupid mask when you're talking to me," she muttered, her eyes piercing him once again.

He obeyed.

"Happy, _mother?_ "

He cocked his head, stepping towards her and chucking the mask to the ground.

"What do you think you're going to do? Stare into my eyes and scold me for being so stupid and unprepared, like you _always_ do?" He tried to bite back a snarl, but it jumped into his voice. She smirked at the sound of it. Talia al Ghul. The only one that could get on his goddamn nerves like this. The _only_ thing she wanted to do, he was convinced so, was to get on his goddamn nerves. It was as if it were her life mission.

She was suffocating him, making him breathe air that wasn't his, fight battles that weren't his own. She was very well trying to take over the League herself, and he wasn't stupid, he knew it. And with his grandfather gone, she was in the perfect position to do so, which should have been perfect in retrospect. Except, in reality, the woman treated him like a _dog_ , and if there was one thing he learned in the seventeen years of dealing with this bullshit, was that he was fucking sick and tired of it. All of it.

"No, _dear son,_ it's going to be much, much _worse_."

Her smirk widened, and he hated it. She stood erect, turning away from him as she glared out the window.

"Pack your bags, Damian."

Goddamn, he could _hear_ that fucking smirk in her voice.

"You're going to New York City."

* * *

A/N:

(1) Lots of researching and I couldn't settle on Nanda Parbat or 'Eth Alth'eban (both places that the League has occupied). I ended up choosing Nanda Parbat because it seems more easily accessed, honestly. Even though I imagine it with a more city-esque feel (like 'Eth Alth'eban had).

(2) Honestly, I just picked a year that I feel like could work. Going off of JLvTT in which Raven/Damian were 15,14, I just added years to make them 18, 17, respectively.

(2) Dunno how they really work, it's never really explained full out. I'm taking a lot of artistic license here, okay?

(3) Okay so growing up 18 years in an Arabic country, don't tell me Damian doesn't have an Arabic accent. Well this Damian does! It'll be more important later on, anyways.

(4) So Teen Titans is always scattered around somewhere in the states (Jump City, San Francisco, NYC), but since this is an AU fic in all its glory, I'm choosing New York City as their place of operation. Need to be close to the hub (Gotham, Metropolis, all NE).

Just some more rambling...as you can see, I'm not going to tell you whose viewpoint I'm writing in. Location should give it mostly away, and then you'll be able to deduce the narrator from there (it's no fun if I tell you, really). I don't think it'll be anyone other than Damian or Raven, though, so it shouldn't be hard to guess.

BUT ALSO: What did you guys think?! Writing it I was like "I'm pretty darn positive that it's obvious that this mysterious assassin guy is Damian" so I decided to finish the chapter with that. You guys are smart, and I've read this too long to _not_ read into this "masked" character like it wasn't Damian. So why wait until another chapter to reveal it, right? It's not the main part of the story, anyways. Well, it is. But the beauty of it is that you'll know Mister Masked Guy is Damian so the dramatic irony will kick in. But yeah, please tell me what you guys think and all that! Love you guys, till next time!

~Cass


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